Field of Invention
In agricultural use, a conventional pneumatic spreader for particulate material such as granular fertilizer includes a tank configured to be pulled across a ground surface in a travel direction.
Description of Related Art
Such a spreader typically has a pair of booms that extend transversely outwardly from the tank, in a lateral direction relative to the travel direction. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,627, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes such a conventional spreader. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the '627 patent, particulate material in tank 10 is conveyed by a pair of belts 28 into guides 60, which feed material through the pipes 13 of booms 12. As shown in FIG. 1,spreader nozzles 18 and 19 allow application of the particulate material to a ground surface over which the spreader travels. A conveyer belt 29 on a right side (as viewed in FIG. 1) of tank 10 feeds into guide 60 to boom 12 on the right side of frame 11. Similarly, a conveyor belt 29 on the left side of tank 10 feeds through guide 60 to a boom on the left side of the frame 11 (not shown).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,933, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a pneumatic material spreader for distributing two types of particulate materials simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 1 of the '933 patent, tank 10 is divided into two sections by divider wall 19. (column 4, line 47). Belt 46 delivers material from compartment 24 while belt 60 delivers material from compartment 25. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the '933 patent, a first set of the belts 46 and 60 delivers the first and second materials from compartments 24 and 25, respectively, to right boom 71. Similarly, a second set of the belts 46, 60 delivers materials from compartments 24 and 25 respectively, to a left boom 70.